Montco judge plans to deny convicted killer's request for new trial

COURTHOUSE — A Montgomery County judge plans to deny a convicted Montgomery Township wife killer’s request for a new trial, according to court documents.

Adam Rosen’s first-degree murder conviction in connection with the 2001 stabbing death of his wife, Hollie, should remain intact as his latest appeal has no merit, according to an order filed Thursday by county Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy.

The judge indicated she plans to dismiss Rosen’s latest request for a new trial without a hearing, indicating after her independent review of Rosen’s claims, she determined he is not entitled to the relief he seeks and that “no purpose would be served by any further proceedings.”

Rosen, 48, has 20 days to file a response to the judge’s order.

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Earlier this year, Rosen, who was convicted of first-degree murder at a 2008 retrial, claimed in an appeal under the state’s Post Conviction Relief Act that defense lawyer Richard Winters was ineffective “for failing to present a medical expert to contradict the questionable forensic conclusions” of the prosecution’s medical expert, who testified that the stab wounds suffered by Rosen’s wife were not characteristic of the “overkill” often associated with a heat of passion killing.

Rosen maintained it was the testimony of the medical examiner’s forensic testimony “regarding the absence of the type of wounds suggesting heat of passion/overkill that tipped the scales in favor of a first-degree verdict.”

At various times throughout the years, Rosen, now represented by lawyer Paul M. George, has implied the killing was more a case of voluntary manslaughter or third-degree murder, lesser degrees of homicide that carry less prison time upon conviction

But county prosecutors, maintaining Rosen’s proposed “heat of passion” voluntary manslaughter theory would stand no chance of success, asked the judge to deny Rosen’s request for a new trial and argued Rosen’s claim that his trial lawyer was ineffective has no merit. Assistant District Attorney Adrienne D. Jappe and Deputy District Attorney Robert M. Falin argued in court papers that there was overwhelming evidence to support Rosen’s conviction of first-degree murder and to establish that he had the specific intent to kill his wife.

“(Rosen) formulated a plan to kill his wife; he carried out his plan by stabbing vital parts of her body; he got rid of the murder weapon; and then he concocted a story of armed intruders to throw the police off his scent. Any heat of passion defense, consequently, stood zero chance of success,” Jappe and Falin wrote.

“Defendant clearly formed the specific intent to kill his wife, at the latest, when he plunged the knife into her chest, holding it tightly in there and moving it around while his wife struggled,” Jappe and Falin wrote in court papers. “His intent to kill was made more manifest when he later plunged the knife into her neck, slicing through her voice box and jugular vein.”

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court previously denied Rosen’s request for a new trial.

With an appeal under the state’s Post Conviction Relief Act, Rosen is attacking the effectiveness of his trial lawyer for the first time.

In July 2008, Judge Paul W. Tressler, now retired, convicted Rosen of first-degree murder, an intentional killing, in connection with the 7 a.m. June 30, 2001, stabbing death of his 31-year-old wife Hollie Iris Rosen. On Oct. 14, 2008, Tressler sentenced Rosen to life imprisonment.

The 2008 trial was a retrial, after Rosen previously won an appeal of his initial murder conviction in 2002.

In May 2002, a jury deliberated about three hours before finding Rosen guilty of first-degree murder in connection with his wife’s slaying. In July 2002, Rosen was sentenced to life imprisonment and he appealed the conviction.

In November 2005, the Pennsylvania Superior Court overturned the conviction and punishment on the grounds that Rosen’s former trial lawyer, F. Emmett Fitzpatrick Jr., failed to call character witnesses on behalf of Rosen during the trial.

During the July 2008 retrial, Winters presented several character witnesses who simply testified Rosen had a reputation for being non-violent.

After the non-jury retrial, Tressler, reaching an identical verdict as the May 2002 jury, determined Rosen yearned to live the single life again and intended to kill his wife when he fatally stabbed her multiple times during an argument in their home.

Tressler said he believed testimony showed that one side of Rosen felt pressured to do the right thing by his wife and children and he wanted to live up to his family’s expectations. However, another side of Rosen felt “trapped” and he wanted to “party and wanted to womanize,” Tressler said at the time.

Prosecutors alleged Rosen, tired of married life and looking for a way out, killed his wife intentionally during an argument in the bedroom of the couple’s Filly Drive home.

Rosen, prosecutors alleged, suspected Hollie was seeing other men, didn’t like having demands placed on him and wanted his life back with no strings attached.

Hollie’s friends testified Rosen complained about a lack of sex with his wife before and after the birth of the couple’s twins.

Grisly testimony revealed Hollie struggled to defend herself as Rosen plunged a knife a total of six times into her chest, neck and back. The mother of one-year-old twins also suffered a dozen superficial cuts and had defensive type wounds on her hands.

Rosen, who initially lied to detectives by telling them his wife was killed by two intruders during a home invasion robbery, eventually confessed by claiming his wife was first to pick up a knife and come at him. Rosen claimed he then wrestled the knife from his wife and “snapped.”

Rosen, who is right-handed, had superficial cuts to his left hand and torso, testimony revealed.

But prosecutors argued there was no medical evidence to suggest that Hollie was the aggressor. Prosecutors said expert testimony revealed that Rosen’s injuries were self-inflicted.